BEFORE BUYING HEALTH INSURANCE KNOW THE BASIC FACTS FOR A COMPLETE COVERAGE

After the outbreak of Coronavirus, the importance of buying a health insurance plan has risen manifold.

- Ashwini Kumar Sharma

While the incidence of hospitalization has increased, it is also the rising medical cost that makes health insurance a must-have for everyone in the family. But, when you look to buy a plan, there are several different types of plan and there are various features in each plan. To make the buying process simpler and make it an informed buying decision, here is a run-down on some of the basic things and features that you may look at while buying health insurance plans.

Not all health insurance plans are similar

It is a myth that all health insurance plans are the same. Critical illness plans (CIP) are defined benefit covers that work differently from indemnity-based health covers. They provide financial assistance when one develops a serious ailment such as cancer or has a stroke. In such cases, a CIP pays the entire sum insured, unlike a health cover, which reimburses the costs. Such plans cover a specific number of ailments only and the cover ends once the sum insured is paid.

In addition to individual health plans, there are family floater (FF) health plans in which the entire sum insured can be availed by any or all members and is not restricted to one individual only as is the case in an individual health plan. It takes advantage of the fact that the possibility of all members of a family falling ill at the same time or within the same year is low.